New article published: V. 13 n. 2 (2025)

Perfomance analysis of a small animal PET scanner using ⁶⁸Ga Isotope

Astract: In recent years, the use of PET scanners for small animals in preclinical research has been growing in Brazil, due to this fact it is essential to have a quality assurance program to ensure the good performance of these scanners or indicate the need for corrective maintenance. In 2008, the National Association of Electrical Equipment Manufacturers (NEMA) in the USA published a document that in your section 6 - Image Quality, Accuracy of attenuation and scatter corrections - proposes the following tests to ensure quality control: uniformity, spill-over ratio, and recovery coefficients. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of a small animal PET scanner LabPET SOLO 4 using the isotope ⁶⁸Ga. The results of tests using the ⁶⁸Ga isotope showed significant differences when compared with the results of tests using ¹⁸F. The paper provided us with a comprehensive understanding of the functioning of the PET scanner when employing the radionuclide ⁶⁸Ga. This evaluation is of crucial relevance for application in laboratories, especially in the quantitative analysis of PET images and in the planning of preclinical studies. Read full article.